Tuesday, 3 July 2012

Nude Behaviour

Casting: 'The series
will be aimed at the male 18-35 market and as such our series will have a sexy
look.'

I think it’s safe to say that that particular casting call
is offensive to just about everyone. This casting is for a film being made
which clearly thinks it’s being revolutionary by casting four women in the
title role where they all get to play crime-fighting ‘badasses.’ And this
should be fine. But aiming it at men? Putting the word ‘sexy’ in every single
sentence? Suddenly the good intentions don’t seem so wonderful.

There has been a lot
said about the treatment of actresses in the last week. Firstly Equity spoke
out about how theatres need to be doing more to ensure that castings are a bit
more equal and don’t just give men-folk the spotlight. Then there was Sarah
Woolley’s excellent article on sex scenes which you can read here:

Now I’ve talked a lot about the amount of nudity that women
seem to have to partake in, especially on film. Just this morning I’ve read at
least ten casting calls that have asked for women to either be beautiful, sexy
or nude. That’s the role women have to play now. Of course, I realise that I’m
generalising and I know that there are lots of lovely, intelligent parts being
written for women too but you have to admit that the facts are there that are
women are often expected to be the pretty ones while the men carry the story.

The constant call for nudity is a very worrying development.
I’ve appeared naked on screen once, something I’ve spoken about before on my
blog (but I’ll re-cap as I’m too lazy to find the post I mentioned it in.) It
was while I was still at drama school and my director wanted me to go
full-frontal but after a discussion that seemed to contain very little regard
for my welfare or modesty, we finally came to a ‘compromise’ where I was allowed
to keep my knickers on. Looking back I wish I’d asked for more but I was young
and desperate to show the world that I was the ultimate in castable actresses.
This should never have happened. Where were the tutors making sure that we all
knew that our acting was enough to get us through this industry? They were
nowhere to be seen. Despite only being a slight little thing back then, I spent
the next two weeks barely eating as I was so terrified of the world seeing an
ounce of flab on me. The scene was the first scene to be shot meaning that I
was an absolute bundle of nerves. We were working alongside a film school so
the crew was made up of people I’d never met before and it just so happened
that the whole crew that morning was entirely made up of men who were much
older than me. By the end I was a lot more comfortable but it’s not an
experience that I’d ever want to relive again. What should’ve been a supportive
environment while I was still training instead felt like a seedy experiment in
how to make a newbie actress feel as awkward as possible.

Of course, the problem is, as I’ve said before, that there
still aren’t enough female writers and directors out there who are being given
the opportunity to get their work made. Until television, theatre and film open
their doors a little wider and let the ladies in too, women will constantly be
relegated to playing ‘The Love Interest’ or the ‘Eye Candy’ or just ‘The
Girlfriend.’ Despite the fact that women make up 50% of the population, we’re very
much the supporting role when it comes to what audiences watch. Women have lead
countries, they fight wars and they’ve made groundbreaking scientific discoveries.
They write some of the most stunning things the world has ever seen and have
written and sung some of the most beautiful songs that we’ll ever know. However,
because women also happen to be bloody gorgeous and the men got in there first
to write things and market things and produce things and direct things, we’ve
been left to play the attractive set-dressing.

Now I don’t know about you but I don’t want to be a naked
prop while men get to have all the fun. Us girls just wanna have fun too, ain’t
that right, Cyndi?